ARCIS: The New 007 Proof Art Fortress?

ARCIS, recently opened this April 2018 in Harlem, NY, is a duty-free art storage facility with the most advanced security systems.

A five-level building with about 110,000 square-feet features managed storage space. It has customizable private storage units and five expansive viewing rooms with ceilings that are up to 18 feet high. Engineered and specifically conceived for the world’s finest private and institutional collections, the building integrates the most advanced security systems, air filtration and climate control technologies. ARCIS, which is owned by real estate giant Cayre Equities, has been designated a foreign trade zone (or FTZ). This means that New York City, the leading art capital of the art world, now has a country-less zone, according to the US Customs and Border Protection website. Once you’ve stepped off 146th street and entered the ARCIS building, you’ve officially left the United States.

ARCIS Executive Director Tom Sapienza said: “We are honored to be designated U.S.’s first Foreign Trade Zone, sustainably designed and purposely built for fine art storage located in Manhattan. New York City remains the capital of the art world, and our goal is to offer discerning local and global clientele the finest service in a unique, highly secure facility right in Harlem. Developed to exceed current industry practices, our mission is simple: to safeguard and preserve the world’s most exceptional art works and collections.”

ARCIS has integrated technologies that achieve a sustainable microclimate combined with a constant air filtration process that exceeds industry practices. Among the building’s most important features is the application of atomization, a state of the art humidification process currently installed in the new Whitney Museum, which exceeds the ASHRAE** specifications as applied to museum construction.

The backup generator, which runs on natural gas as opposed to diesel, is capable of operating 100 percent of the building at any time. The generator setup also gives ARCIS the ability to switch seamlessly between electric and natural gas power.

New York could definitely become the latest tax haven for art collectors which will open opportunities to store art tax free in more places than in warehouses in Delaware or Switzerland.